Tritax Big Box makes £485m swoop for Warehouse REIT after Blackstone snub
Tritax Big Box has reached a £485m deal to acquire rival Warehouse REIT, fending off a previous offer from US private equity giant Blackstone.
The cash and shares offer, which has been recommended by the Warehouse board, values the company at £485m. Warehouse has withdrawn its recommendation that shareholders approve an earlier Blackstone offer as a result of the new deal.
Under the terms of the offer, Warehouse shareholders will be entitled to receive 0.4236 Big Box shares and 47.2 pence in cash, as well as continue to be paid upcoming Warehouse dividends due in July and October.
Should it go ahead, the deal will help turn Tritax Big Box into a real estate investment trust giant, and could see the firm’s inclusion into the FTSE 100 index.
Warehouse shares rose 5.2 per cent to 112p following the announcement on Wednesday morning. Tritax Big Box shares dipped 0.3 per cent.
In March, it emerged Blackstone had made a £470m offer for Warehouse, which the firm’s board rejected. But Warehouse later said it had reached an agreement.
Neil Kirton, the Chair of Warehouse, today said the deal with Big Box was “not only at a higher level to the previous offer for the company, but which also provides Warehouse Shareholders with the opportunity to retain both the Warehouse Q4 and Q1 dividends and remain invested in this attractive asset class.
“Warehouse shareholders will further benefit from the increased liquidity that comes from being invested in a larger company, providing them with greater optionality over when to crystalise returns.”
REIT consolidation
The deal comes as a blow to Blackstone, which has been on an acquisition spree to build up a huge real estate investment trust portfolio.
Blackstone bought out both Warehouse REIT competitors St Modwen and Industrials REIT in 2021 and 2023 respectively, combining them last year along with assets acquired through 25 other deals.
Thanks to the wide discounts in share prices across all trusts, 2024 saw a raft of M&A deals in the REIT sector.
Sales included LXI REIT, which was bought out by Londonmetric Property, UK Commercial Property REIT (merged with Tritax Big Box), Balanced Commercial Property Trust, and Tritax EuroBox.
Warehouse REIT itself was highlighted as a potential takeover target during 2025 by Deutsche Numis, as despite a wide discount, the trust’s sector of multi-let industrial is undergoing a “long-term resurgence”.